Temple City incumbents sweep City Council race

TEMPLE CITY - Two City Council incumbents vying for a second term beat their two challengers with a comfortable margin Tuesday in the race for two open seats, according to preliminary election results.

Both Yu, 56, and Chavez, 58, were elected in 2009 after former Mayors Cathe Wilson and Judy Wong had been accused and ultimately convicted on bribery and perjury charges involving a local developer.

"We're very happy about the results tonight," Mayor Vince Yu, who was watching the tally at City Hall, said. "I think the votes reflect that they're happy with who we were ... We can really take this and really run with it, the encouragement and do more."

Councilman Tom Chavez, who was not at City Hall, could not be reached by phone late Tuesday.

Wong, a USC graduate student and the founding executive director of the community publication Temple City Voice, said he was disappointed with the early election results.

"We worked really hard, incredibly hard," Wong said. "We knocked on more than 4,500 doors. We made 1,500 phone calls. We ran an incredible, incredible campaign."

Wong said while some voters had concerns about the fiscal management of the city, "I think ultimately people were satisfied with the performance of the incumbents."

Lisk, an 18-year resident who also ran for council in 2011, could not be reached Tuesday.